Dmitri Shostakovich: a work of virtuosity or a profitable misfortune?

Germán José Medina-Rincón; Sofía Martínez-Gil; Luis Octavio Tierradentro-García; Eduardo Esteban Orrego-González; Juan Sebastián Botero-Meneses

doi:10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2020-0570

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria, Table of Contents

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2021; 79(10): 933-935
DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2020-0570

Historical Notes

Dmitri Shostakovich: a work of virtuosity or a profitable misfortune?

Dmitri Shostakovich: ¿virtuosismo o infortunio provechoso?

Germán José Medina-Rincón

¹Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Neuroscience Research Group, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

²Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Centro de Neurociencia Neurovitae-Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

,

Sofía Martínez-Gil

¹Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Neuroscience Research Group, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

²Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Centro de Neurociencia Neurovitae-Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

,

Luis Octavio Tierradentro-García

¹Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Neuroscience Research Group, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

²Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Centro de Neurociencia Neurovitae-Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

³Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Department of Radiology, Philadelphia PA, United States of America.

,

Eduardo Esteban Orrego-González

¹Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Neuroscience Research Group, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

²Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Centro de Neurociencia Neurovitae-Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

,

Juan Sebastián Botero-Meneses

¹Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Neuroscience Research Group, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

²Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Centro de Neurociencia Neurovitae-Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Dmitri Shostakovich was one of the greatest composers of 20th century, famous for his piano and violin compositions. One of the compositions, the 5th symphony, is arguably his greatest work, which brought him back to the grace of the Soviet authorities in a moment of a political crisis in Russia. Among the experts, there is a theory which supports that Shostakovich’s talent was due to a traumatic brain injury involving a shrapnel. Moreover, he might have suffered from a neurodegenerative process throughout his life. In this paper, we intend to discuss these viewpoints.

RESUMEN

Dmitri Shostakovich fue uno de los más renombrados compositores del siglo XX, famoso por sus obras para violín y piano. Su Quinta Sinfonía, es para muchos su obra más importante. Esta pieza le trajo gran simpatía con las autoridades militares en un momento de crisis en la Unión Soviética. Entre opiniones de expertos, existe una teoría que postula que el talento de Shostakovich es secundario a un trauma craneoencefálico producido por herida de metralla. También se cree que pudo haber sufrido de un proceso neurodegenerativo. Nuestra intención en el presente artículo es discutir estos puntos de vista.

Keywords:

Neurology - Neurosurgery - Hallucinations - Brain Injuries, Traumatic - History - Music

Palabras clave:

Neurología - Neurocirugía - Alucinaciones - Lesiones Traumáticas del Encéfalo - Historia - Música

Full Text

References

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